Five Game of Thrones Mods You Must Play

A Game of Thrones has become a cultural phenomenon, a new generation’s The Lord of the Rings. Ten years ago, it was Tolkien’s works that formed the basis of just about every fantasy-themed mod you could get your hands on, but today’s gamer is enthralled with the politics of Martin’s oeuvre.

If you’re a fan of the book series A Song of Ice and Fire or the HBO TV series A Game of Thrones, here are five mods you must play. If you don’t own the base game, they may even be worth buying the game just to play.

5. Crusader Kings II: A Game of Thrones

This total-conversion includes custom heraldry and new gameplay features designed to fit the world of A Song of Ice and Fire. Players can choose to play from any start date from sixteen years prior to the events of book one to the beginning of book two.

Traditional gameplay is replaced with players instead fighting to control just one throne – the Iron Throne. Events from CK2 have been adapted to fit the lore and flavor of A Song of Ice and Fire.

New features include a dueling engine that allows lords to fight each other in one-on-one combat, a new way for characters to interact, and pets that aid in battle.

While RPG elements are included, the mod isn’t a full narrative recreation of the books. Players have the freedom to explore “What If?” scenarios: What if Robb captured King’s Landing? What if Stannis and Renly joined forces against Joffrey? What if Rhaegar Targaryen had killed Robert on the Trident instead of the other way around? All these things can, and may, happen in the mod, with or without the player’s choice. No game will ever be the same, whether you win or you die.

Currently in beta, this mod takes place during the second book in the series and features eighteen unique factions, each with their own troops, distinct cultures and custom settlements, as well as a “secret” emerging faction.

Encompassing all of Westeros and the western part of Essos, the map for “A Clash of Kings” might well be the most detailed map ever made for a Mount and Blade: Warband mod.

“A Clash of Kings” contains more than 1600 new items and many new features, such as naval travel and battles, custom settlements for many iconic locations, such as King’s Landing, Winterfell, Moat Cailin, Storm’s End and Highgarden, new companions, new music and visuals, an invading faction, many custom units, a new way of recruitment, and new heraldic items.

Here’s a mod that transforms Skyrim into Westeros. All written dialogue in the game has been reworked to fit the setting, and new storylines have been created, such as House Tyrell balancing the pros and cons of an alliance with Casterly Rock and the Lannisters’ attempting to turn the smallfolk against the Northern rebels through religion.

Of course, new locations are included, such as the fortress island of Dragonstone, ancestral home to House Targaryen. You can even sit the Iron Throne itself!

New followers will join players on their quests, from Daenerys’ bloodriders to the Reed siblings to Salladhor Saan the pirate mercenary.

As can be expected, the mod comes with new armors, outfits and weapons. Beyond that, it replaces all NPCs with humans — though there are themes in the replacements. Most Orcs have become Dothraki savages, clustered together in hidden khalasars, while the Khahjit caravans now represent traders from the Free City of Lorath.

This mod includes unit reskins, new units, custom models, and a map that encompasses the continent of Westeros. The playable factions, which each have their own unique units, are Houses Stark, Tully, Lannister, Greyjoy, Arryn, Martell, Tyrell, Frey, Baratheon of Storm’s End (Renly), Baratheon of Dragonstone (Stannis) and Baratheon of King’s Landing (Joffrey).

The game begins during the events of the first novel, at the onset of the War of Five Kings.

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